Greek Yarrow is a slow-growing, tidy, dense evergreen ground cover. This beauty is a reliable heavy-bloomer bearing bright white clusters of tiny flowers for many weeks in late spring. Attracts bees and butterflies.

Western White Yarrow is a tough evergreen native that has fragrant, lacy foliage with dense umbels of tiny white flowers in summer. Can spread. Great attractor for beneficial insects. Tolerates variety of soil conditions. Pollinators: Butterflies and native bees. More information here.

A natural hybrid from Bulgaria, this unusual and charming miniature yarrow produces clumps of small white flowers over carpets of attractive silvery leaves. Expanding gradually by root, this plant can form loose colonies.

Persian Stonecress forms handsome tight mounds of unusual deep blue-green foliage which is completely evergreen. The plant is covered with cheerful pink blossoms in late spring to early summer.Can seed out fairly aggressively.

This compact Agastache, or ‘Hummingbird Mint’ bears dozens of upright stalks of purple tubular flowers which–of course!–attract hummingbirds. Because of its compact form, it can be used to create spectacular small ‘hedges’, bringing color to the late summer garden.

Mountain Alyssum is one of the earliest of the spring bloomers. Bright right yellow flowers over attractive, low gray-green mats of small oval leaves. Nice for rock gardens, front of borders. Pollinators: bees and butterflies. Can seed out.

Pearly Everlasting is a sturdy, undemanding native wildflower that can be grown in dramatic drifts in sun or part shade.Hundreds of glowing, white flowers atop woolly, erect stems account for its “pearly” appearance. Fine food source for butterflies. More info here and here.

Mountain Sandwort is a classy little alpine or rock garden plant. It forms a low evergreen cushion of dark green leaves, bearing loads of large white flowers during the spring and early summer. Great for edging paths, between flagstones, in walls or rock gardens. Evergreen.

Narrow Leaf Milkweed, native to Southern Idaho, is smaller and more drought-tolerant than the better-known Showy Milkweed. Mauve-pink flowers emerge in mid-summer. With extra water, bloom time is extended. Host plant for Monarch butterflies.

Showy Milkweed was once common, but modern agricultural techniques have largely eradicated this crucial pollinator plant. Milkweed provides larval food for the dwindling Monarch butterfly. It is tall and beautiful, but spreads through the garden by root–so choose the planting site with care!

Despite its common name, the flowers of Sky Blue Aster are more lavender than blue. But this Aster puts on a brilliant show in fall, each plant covered with hundreds of beautiful blooms. Growing well in almost any soil, from dry sand to moist loam, it attracts butterflies and bees.

Snow Flurry is a fall-blooming Aster that creates low-growing dense ground cover carpeted with tiny white flowers in September and October. A good strong grower and a totally new look and use for Asters! Makes an excellent container plant. Cut back in spring. Attracts native bees, honeybees and butterflies.

False Aster is a vigorous perennial that comes back from its roots every year to produce a cloud of white blossoms in late fall. Hundreds of white, aster-like flowers provide late season food for bees. Does not spread readily by seed.

Winecups or Purple Poppy Mallow has striking wine colored blooms on prostrate stems which wind along the ground in and around other plants. Tough and long blooming, it prefers well-drained soil. Pollinators: native bees.

Harebells is a lovely little wildflower is a native to most of the U.S., including Idaho. Its nodding blue flowers are held on wiry stems above attractive basal foliage. Great for borders, rock gardens. Pollinators: native bees. More info here.

Jupiter’s Beard produces masses of crimson flowers fading to pink from late spring right through the summer. Periodic deadheading will enhance the bloom even more. Attracts Swallowtails and Monarchs. Can seed out somewhat aggressively.

Valuable as a shade-tolerant groundcover, Plumbago will also grow in full sun. Glossy deep green leaves and lovely blue flowers with striking red calyces make this a most attractive spreading groundcover. The plant vanishes in winter, but comes back reliably each spring.